Elaborate display mounted for a Shriner convention over the 600 7th St entrance to JW Robinson department store, downtown Los Angeles, 1929

Elaborate display mounted for a Shriner convention over the 600 7th St entrance to JW Robinson department store, downtown Los Angeles, 1929It must have been a very big deal for a city to hold a Shriner convention because whenever I see vintage photos of LA welcoming the Shriners, it’s all decked out. In the case of this 1929 photo, the JW Robinson department store mounted an elaborate display over their main entrance at 600 7th Street with palm trees and a camel with a driver. (The full name for the Shriners is the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, so the aesthetic is all very Arabian/Middle Eastern-y.) It looks like it was all in white, which probably made it all the more striking.

The Robinson’s store building on 7th St is still there. Even the entrance’s awning that the Shriner display stood on is still around. However, from the look of this January 2023 image, it seems the place is empty.

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4 responses to “Elaborate display mounted for a Shriner convention over the 600 7th St entrance to JW Robinson department store, downtown Los Angeles, 1929”

  1. Alistair Quick says:

    Woe betide anyone doing that today… cries of “cultural appropriation” would abound. Today we all must stay in our lane and be the poorer for it.

    Rant aside. That looks fantastic!

    • Martin Pal says:

      I always remind people that there were not so many earthquake restrictions back then that would prohibit something like that now.

  2. Robert Disner says:

    I used to work in that building in the early 2000s. It is far from empty! It now contains data centers and runs most of the internet traffic for Los Angeles and well beyond.

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